South Africa squared up their one-day international series with Australia at 1-1 on Sunday, as they chalked up a three-wicket victory in a low-scoring affair at the WACA, Perth.
The hosts were without inspirational captain Michael Clarke after he suffered a hamstring injury in the first ODI, and it was clear they were missing him as the wickets tumbled early on.
The opening pair of David Warner and Aaron Finch barely had time to dirty their shoes before they were dismissed, going for nought and eight, respectively.
Shane Watson and Steven Smith didn’t do much better with scores of 11 and 10, and at 34/4 it looked like South Africa were going to limit the hosts to double figures.
However, the Proteas still had Mitchell Marsh to deal with—something that journalist Andre Bloem reflected upon:
Marsh has been in phenomenal form of late, and where his teammates faltered, he succeeded, displaying some impressive batting.
Three fours and two sixes helped the Aussie No. 6 over the half-century mark, but Dale Steyn forced him to play straight into the hands of Morne Morkel, who took the catch with minimal fuss to limit Marsh to 67.
With that came the end of the Australian challenge, as George Bailey, Matthew Wade, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Coulter-Nile were all dismissed for low figures during the star man’s time at the crease.
Here’s a look at the scorecard from a disappointing innings:
While it’s easy to say that Australia were poor with the bat, the fact remains that South Africa were lethal with the ball—Morkel in particular.
Figures of 5-21, as well as two catches, earned Morkel the man-of-the-match award, and South African golfer Ernie Els was quick to praise his compatriot:
The chase, then, looked a simple one for the visitors, but their bid to reach 155 didn’t get off to the best of starts.
Openers Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla went for four and 10, respectively, to put South Africa on 21-2, which gave the Aussies a great deal of encouragement.
However, such optimism was short-lived, as Rilee Rossouw and AB de Villiers put together strong hauls to put glory well within reach for the back end of the order.
The latter came close to notching 50 before Josh Hazlewood took his wicket for 48, and the Aussie was a rare shining light for the home bowlers.
Hazlewood carded superb figures of 5-31 and went on a late surge to give his side a glimmer of hope, but his teammates let him down.
Coulter-Nile’s haul of 0-54 cost Australia dearly, as South Africa recorded 157-7 with 22 overs remaining—as the scorecard below shows:
What was fantastic about Australia in the first ODI was how they pulled together as a unit and produced the goods as one, rather than relying on individual talent.
That may well have been due to Clarke’s presence, who will now return to Sydney for further treatment ahead of the Test matches with India—as Cricket Australia doctor Peter Brukner said, via BBC Sport:
“Michael will return to Sydney for further treatment. An update on his fitness for the first Test in Brisbane [against India] will be made in due course."
The Aussies, then, need to find a way to cope without their skipper when the third ODI rolls around in Canberra on Wednesday, or South Africa could take the series advantage.
And with Morkel, de Villiers and Co. in this kind of form, it’s difficult to look beyond that being an eventuality.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1uhpdF0
via IFTTT November 16, 2014 at 03:18AM
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